Today I have an amazingly easy Quick Beef Stew recipe to tickle your taste buds. It is chocked full of lean ground beef and vegetables and is ready in just 45 minutes making it a perfect kid friendly weeknight dinner. And it’s naturally gluten free!
I know you must think I’m some sort of culinary wizard to be able to pull off making stew in only 45 minutes. And as much as I like the idea of letting you believe that I am, I’m going to fess up and let you in on my secret to getting slow-simmered flavor and tender beef in under an hour.
How to make Beef Stew in under 45 minutes
- First Fond! Fond is a word I am fond of. Ugh. Sorry, have I mentioned the fact that I call my self a culinerd? Fond, is a French culinary word for the tasty crusty bits on the bottom of the pan when food is browned. Fond is flavor, and creating that, and capturing it is the difference between blah and heck-yeah flavor. To get fond, you need heat, oil and as little moisture as possible. In this recipe we do that by heating oil on high heat and then browning the ground beef. The wider your soup pot, the more fond you’ll get. After the meat is brown, take it out, and you’ll see the tasty crust bits of fond on the bottom of the pot and along the sides of the pot.
- Add your allium, garlic and onion. I next took the time to brown the garlic and onions in oil, but I reduced the heat to medium. Reducing the heat, means the onions will cook more slowly, and release their liquid, this will deglaze the fond a bit.
- Add more flavor. This is also a trick to getting around the 4 hour simmer- you get flavor by adding plenty of seasoning. I used paprika, thyme and salt. Stirring it into the onion before the liquid blooms the flavors in the spices.
- Wine Time. Wine, or any alcohol added to a dish, will increase the flavor. True fact: the alcohol makes your taste buds perceive the flavors better. The wine also acts to further deglaze any remaining caramelization in the pot.
- Make it Healthy. Next add a ton of veggies and broth and cook it until the veggies are tender. Thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry.
- Done in under 45 minutes. Add the beef back in and…Boom! Done. 45 minutes and you’ve got rich, thick beef stew!
My thought process was this: I know this month is all about the holidays, but what about the other days of the month? And this month in particular is always so frenetically busy, having another healthy weeknight meal would surely be a plus for all of us! You know, when you just want a healthy home-cooked comfort-food meal on the table in under an hour? That’s when to pull this out. And because this is made with lean ground beef and loads of veggies its healthy too.
You can also check out this recipe on A Dish of Daily Life!
Please Come back Thursday this week for a great cookbook review and another healthy recipe you won’t want to miss! Happy Cooking! ~Katie
Don't miss this easy Quick Beef Stew recipe that will tickle your taste buds. It is chocked full of lean ground beef and vegetables and is ready in just 45 minutes making it a perfect kid friendly weeknight dinner. And it's gluten free!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or organic canola oil. Divided
- 1 pound lean ground beef, preferably 92% lean
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon dry thyme
- pinch red chili flake, optional
- ½ cup dry red wine
- 1 4-cup box beef broth or stock, divided *see tip
- 2 medium Yukon gold or red potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 carrots diced,
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1 cup peeled and diced parsnips
- 1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- chopped parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the bottom of a large heavy bottom soup pot over high heat. Add beef, and cook, stirring occasionally and crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon until it is no longer pink, 7 to 9 minutes. Remove the meat to a bowl, along with any juices from the pot, and cover with foil.
- Return the pot to the stove and reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pot. Add garlic and onion, and cook stirring until the onion starts to brown in spots, 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle with paprika, salt, thyme and red pepper flake if using, and cook, stirring until the spices are fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine, increase heat to high and cook, stirring until the wine has almost evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add 3 ½ cups broth, potatoes, carrots, celery, parsnips and Worcestershire and stir well. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
- Reduce heat to medium to maintain a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are just tender, 15 to 18 minutes. Stir the remaining ½ cup broth with cornstarch, and stir into the simmering stew. Increase heat to high and bring to a simmer, stirring. Stir in the beef and return to a simmer. Remove stew from the heat and ladle into bowls. Top with parsley.
Notes
To speed this recipe up even more. While you brown the meat in step 1, bring the 3 ½ cups broth used in step 3 to a simmer in a separate pot or in the microwave. Once it is added to the pot in step 3, the whole stew will come to a simmer more quickly, shaving 7 minutes off your total time. Just make sure not to pre-heat the ½ cup that’s mixed with the cornstarch in step 4.
More Stew For You!
Slow Cooker Chinese 5-Spice Beef Stew
Slow Cooker White Bean Stew with Chicken and Ham
I grew up on my mom’s beef stew and these bowls of gorgeously colored beef stew take me on a walk down memory lane. Yes – I definitely need healthier meal options during the rest of December – especially ones that are quicker too! Heading over to check out your tips for a quick beef stew now!
You an me both! December is so fun, but it’s almost too much. 🙂
Looks like a great comfort food recipe! I also love it’s ready in less than an hour!
Thank you Shelby!
Beef stew is always so pretty and you did not disappoint. Haven’t had some in such a long time. This looks delicious
Thanks so much Renz. Have a great day.
Healthy comfort food ready in 45 minutes, now you’re talking. This looks incredible!!
Woot woot, fast dinners are the best! Thank you so much for coming by Emily.
Love the smoke in the first photo! This stew looks delicious and love that it takes under an hour. So great of you to fill in for your friend.
I am so glad you noticed Tara. I saw that the stew was steaming like that, and I had to hustle to capture it. I used a faster shutter speed to make sure you could tell what it was. So happy that paid off. Have a great day Tara.
It’s so nice to have a lovely, comforting meal like this ready quickly. I really like how you accomplished that with this recipe – and all the lovely flavours you used.
Thank you so much April.
This is my husband’s dream dinner!
So glad to hear it Linda. The whole family loved it here. Have a great day.